9.27.2015

Divine Love, my encounter with the crazy world of Bhaktas

Are you a bhakta? How far does your Bhakti go?
Will you take the leap, close your eyes and trust me and let go?

"No" would most likely be the answer. How then do we go
on this path of faith, ahem blind faith. Blind faith which is not so blind that
you take anything that’s given but blind faith that is informed on whom you
take it from and what they have to offer. And yes, you had better know your
faith better, way better because whoever you go to, won’t teach you that.

Faith is what you make of it, it is not what you see in a group of
people as to what they make of it. It is not a war of symbolism, it is not a
war of numbers, it is not a war of belief (whether my belief is greater than
yours or not). It is a STATE OF MIND. It is yours for you to manage, like your
home, your work, your kids... faith is all about managing the creature called
you. Why, because guess what ... you spent your whole life managing everyone
and everything else around you but yourself.

I belong in that world, the world where we think managing
ourselves is way more important that managing others. We manage
ourselves and define what principles and virtues we want to live up to and
define who we really want to be...in the divine world. I discovered a handful
of others who have tried as much to do the same thing with themselves and succeeded. And we
have a common goal, the goal is to seek the divine, the goal is to exploit what
we have in abundance - sheer love.

Love - not the chemistry between a man and a woman, not a spark
that defines a human relationship - but love that is free of human definition.
You and I are capable of it. I discovered a man, I read his poetry and now I am
deeply in love with his ideology, deeply in love with his craving for the
Goddess, deeply in love with his purity towards the divine. And every line in
his poetry just makes my heart cry out for him. Oh where is he, the great lover
of the Goddess, who looks so dejected because he can’t find me.

Alas, we are born in two different eras...we are born never to
have ever met before. And as I scroll through his divine verses to the
Goddess... I feel the pain of what he feels. We are simple people, we don’t
know the ways of the world, and we just know one thing, deep love, just love
for the divine Mother.

He writes:

A Country Fair (Excerpts) Drive me out of my
mind, O MotherWhat use is
esoteric knowledgeor philosophical
knowledgeTransport me
totally with the burning wineOf your all-embracing
loveMother of mystery,
who imbues with mysteryThe heart of those
who love youImmerse me
irretrievablyIn the stormy
ocean without boundaryPure love Pure
love Pure love

The Poet Stammers,Overcome with
longing:When? When? When?When will I be
granted companionshipwith her intense
lovers.Their holy company
is heavenlyA country fair for
those mad with loveWhere every
distinction between master and disciple disappears

- Ramprasad Sen (Shakta Poet, 18th Century, West Bengal)

Yes it’s a mad world when one true bhakta meets another, it’s a
mad world of freedom from the hypocrisy of men. Out here there is truth, there
is pure love and deep faith that pulsates, binding us together. We sing each
other’s praise, we view each other as an extension of ourselves. We realize
just what we need beyond the world of earthly human love and existence. And the
divine mother drives us, like horses tied to her chariot as we run in
directions of our own choice, of our own freedom. The harness of love keeps us
steady and doesn’t let us stray away.

He taught me well. He taught me to love the Goddess. He taught me
to look into the mirror and see him as a reflection of me.

That is truly when the divine illusion of the Great Mother falls
and she sees herself face to face with herself. We are but a figment of her
imagination. Ma Kali meets Ma Kali, I am you seen through her eyes and this
illusion too shall fall.